Rupee to stabilise very soon: Official
Kolkata, Aug 18 : The Indian rupee, which has been depreciating against the dollar on account of external factors, will "stabilise" soon with the fundamental equation for trade unchanged, an official said here on Saturday.
"This breaching of 70 (mark) was on account of external factors largely on what happened in Turkey. Our fundamental equation for the trade has not been changed. Oil prices have not gone up.
"The demand-supply situation for dollars in the Indian economy has not got altered... our perception is that very soon it (rupee) will stabilise and it might go back to Rs 68-69," Union Finance Ministry's Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Subhas Chandra Garg said here.
On Thursday, the rupee had touched an all time low of 70.39-40 in the spot market and settled at a record closing low of 70.16 against the greenback.
Speaking on capital outflow, Garg said: "There was an outflow of $9 billion in terms of portfolio investments in the first three months of the current fiscal and last year, we had a inflow of $20 billion. But in July, there was no outflow. In August, there is positive inflow of about $1.5 billion."
"It makes it clear that the episode arising out of Turkey essentially does not alter FPIs' (Foreign Portfolio Investors) perception about the investability of India. I do not think that will change," he said on the sidelines of a Merchants' Chamber of Commerce and Industry's event.
Garg also said that public sector banks, which are under Prompt Corrective Actions (PCA) imposed by the Reserve Bank of India, would do better going forward and there would be lesser requirement for provisioning of bad loans.
"Profitability of these banks will be coming back. They are expected to come out of PCA in the next 1-2 years," he added.
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Idukki: Congress leader quits in protest against party's stance on Waqf Bill
Idukki (Kerala), Apr 4 (PTI): A local Congress leader in this hill district on Friday resigned from the grand old party in protest against its stance on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.
Benny Peruvanthanam, general secretary of the Idukki District Congress Committee (DCC), resigned from the party, accusing it of neglecting the Christian minority and taking a pro-Muslim stance on the Munambam issue.
"Congress has neglected the Christian minority community for years, while only appeasing Muslims. In protest of this approach, I am resigning from the Congress party," Benny told reporters.
He stated that he had raised the issue within party forums and urged for changes, but no action was taken.
"The situation has reached a point where it’s impossible to move forward, so I have resigned from the post of DCC secretary and from the party as well," he added.
Peruvanthanam also criticised the Congress leadership for its negative stance regarding the concerns raised by the KCBC and Catholic Church organisations. However, he stated that he has not aligned with any other political party now.
The Congress leadership has yet to comment on the matter.
The Munambam residents, strongly supported by the Catholic Church, have been protesting for the past 174 days for revenue rights over their properties, allegedly claimed by the Waqf Board.
The Christian community has significant influence in the Idukki district.
